When Michael Ringer was growing up in Grand Prairie, his friends had bicycles. He had roller blades.

“I was always racing them,” Ringer said.

His parents took note and told him, “You really should think about racing,” he said.

That’s what he did for the next 15 years or so, and now, at the age of 22, the Cedar Hill resident is one of the best inline speed skaters in the country.

He is one of four American skaters who qualified to participate in the Pan American Olympic Festival in Mexico, which just ended and he also qualified to compete in the Outdoor Worlds Championship from Nov. 6-14 in Rosario, Argentina.

He also will represent Team USA in the actual Pan American Games next year in Vancouver.

Seeds of a champion

“I didn’t know much about the sport,” Ringer said before a practice session at the Arlington Skatium.

His first out-of-state competition was as an 11- or 12-year-old in Las Vegas, he said. It also was his first time to fly in an airplane.

Afterwards, he remembers telling his father, “Dad, I want to be one of those guys, one of those elite leaders.”

At the national outdoor trials last year, Ringer earned enough points to be named the overall top finisher. He was the indoor track winner in the 300- and 500-meter races and the 200- and 500-meter winner on the outdoor road track.

Late last year Ringer was ranked eighth in the country in the Pro Men Inline Speed Skating Rankings.

Ringer skates as part of DFW Speed, the only team he has ever known other than Team USA. The team’s assistant coach, Todd Hackney, is the first coach he had.

“He was a real quick learner,” Hackey said. “It’s been great watching become this elite athlete.”

Inline speed skating is different than traditional speed skating, which takes place on ice. The inline sport features skates with a single row of wheels and custom-made boots.

The cost to participate is expensive.

Boots can cost around $1,500, and “that doesn’t include wheels or bearings,” said Julie Harris, vice president of DFW Speed.

In the past, the team has been able to pay most of its own way to high-profile competitions thanks to contributions from two Bingo parlors, Harris said, but they have since closed and left a gap in team funding.

Ringer’s mother has established a Go Fund Me page in hopes of raising about $4,000 to get to Argentina. In the past, he has competed in China, Colombia, South Korea and Belgium, he said.

Around the world

China was his first international trip in 2009, competing in the Junior World Class Division.

Ringer fell twice in China, but also advanced to the quarterfinals in the 500.

“Most elite racers are from The Netherlands, Colombia and Italy, places like that,” Ringer said. “I’m the young gun. That’s what they call me.”

In Argentina, Ringer will race against athletes who generally are between 25 to 30 years old, he said.

To that end, Ringer trains relentlessly.

“It’s a big part of my life,” he said. “Training. Lots and lots of training.”

Ringer said is inspired by speed skaters such as Stephen Carter of Philadelphia and Keith Turner of North Carolina, African-Americans like himself who took up the sport.

“They gave me a kind of ‘Michael Jordan’-look at the sport, that drive to excel,” Ringer said.

Teacher and mentor

Arlington-based DFW Speed team has about 50 members, Harris said, but not all compete. They come from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area and a few hail from out-of-state. Their ages range from 3 years old to around 70.

Ringer serves as a mentor to many of the other skaters.

“Come on, man, you have to do more than 20 [laps],” he tells a teammate.

Jake Drahos, a Fort Worth police officer, said Ringer serves as an inspiration.

“He’s great with little kids. It’s neat to see him coach them,” DFW Speed head coach Ricky Brock said.

Ringer’s ultimate goal is to switch over to ice within the next year in a drive to compete in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

“When I was a teenager, I had plenty of ice skating options,” at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter in Duncanville — now the Duncanville Field House — and The Parks Mall in Arlington,” Ringer said. “I do have some short-track experience, but I would love to do long track, which would be totally different for me.”

Loyd Brumfield is the editor of Best Southwest/Grand Prairie/Oak Cliff neighborsgo and can be reached at 214-977-7686.

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